Resilient heel lift



Apr. 24, 1923. I 1,452,892

L. M. OAKLEY I 4 RES ILIENT HEEL LIFT File d Feb. 5, 1920 1 1e 1 L 11 mm/ T $5 A" db 02214013 14; 19' W Patented Apr. 24, 1923.

' UNITED s v T T arms. I

LAURENCE M. OAKLEY, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO. GLI'FEORD" H,

- OAKLEY, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY. i

RESILIENI HEEL LIFT.

Application filed February 5,1920. Serial- No. 356,374.

To. all whom it may concern.

Be it known that, I, LAURENCE M. OAK- LEY, acitizen of' the United States, and a resident. of Trenton, in the county of Mercerand. State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement. in Resilient Heel 'Llfts, of which the following. is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in. resilient heel lifts for attachment to the heels of boots and shoes.

Amon other. objects the invention aims to provi 'e a resilient lift so formed that its edges. will be maintained, partly by the resiliency of' the lift material, in close con- -tact with the edges of a heel to which it may be applied. Further objects of the invention will be in part obvious from and in. part pointed out in the following specification. It will be observed that the struc- 3 ture of the lift is such that it closely resembles a flat heel lift and is clearly alift of theflat type. a i

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been selected for purposes of illustration and description, but it will be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1' is a top plan view of an illustrative resilient heel lift embodying the invention Figure 2 1s a longitudinal section on. the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 33 of Figure 1 :r Figure 4 is a cross section of the line 4:t

of Figure-1;

Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of the heel shown in Figure 1; and

Figures 6 a nd Tare respectively longitudinal and cross sections of the heel lift of Figure 1 atitachedto the heel of a shoe, the. respective planes of these sections being indicated by the lines 66 and, 7+7 in;

Figure 5. v

Referring to? the drawings it will be observed" that the illustrative heel lift is of substantially uniform thickness throughout. Such lifts are usually made of rubber or a rubber composition. The lift is formed on its upper or attaching face, with a central plane portion or core 10 bounded on one side by the forward or breast edge 11.

Extending from the breast edge near one corner, around the central core, and back again to the breast edge near theother cor? ner, is a groove or depression 12. The side edges 13 and the rear-edge 14 are in substantially the same plane as the surface" of the central core 10. As the lift is of substantially uniform thickness throughout the of the heel. a suitable number of nail holes? I 19, herein five in'number, are formed and corresponding washers 2O imbedded in the rubber. Preferably these nail holes are located at the point of maximum displacement from the plane of the central core 10,

along the median line of the groove. In the present instance, due to the regular curvature of the groove, the na1l holes are 10- cated midway between the edges, of the groove. It should be noted that thepresent' construction permits of the nail holes be.- ing placed perpendicularly to the plane of the lift surface which, when attached is'the plane of the shoe heel. The nails are, there fore, more easily driven without bending without distorting the rubber adjacent the nail holes. j

The heel lift just described possesses certain pronounced advantages over heel lifts of the prior art designed to'secure intimate contact between the edge of the lift and thee'dge. of the shoeheelwithout the use of" ce ment. Such lifts", which, are often referred to as concavo-convex, are deformable over substantially their entire area. This necessitates the location of the nail holes near the center of the heel. thus causing the intimate contact between heel lift and shoe heelto de 'iend principally upon the continued resiliency of the material of the lift. In the:

, a greater length.

the edge of the heel lift and the edge of the shoe heel.

By restricting the deformable part of the heel lift, as in the present instance, there is provided a short arch from the outer edge ofthe central plane portion or core 10 to the edges 18 and lt of the lift. The force necessary to deform the rubber in such a construction will be greater than in a construction which involves deforming the lift over The opposed tendency of the rubber to resume its normal shape will be correspondingly greater and this will produce a greater pressure upon the edge of the shoe heel. The location of the nailholes near the edge'is particularly advantageous heel continues the edge gripping tendency with the shoe heelx of the heel uniformly to the breast corners which are most likely to be caught by the wearer and, if insecurely held, pulled away from the shoe heel.

It willbe noted that the heel lift of the present invention possesses distinguishing characteristics of a flat heel which, although they may beof slight importance after the heel lift has been attached toa shoe, are of great importance in the handling and during the attachment of the lift. It will be noted a pair of lifts may b packed in the usual cartons and handled as fiat heel lifts are handled. In attaching the lift of the present invention to a shoe heel itmay be accurately centered thereon and the first nails driven through the central plane portion of the lift without in any way deforming the heel. Thus the possibility of the lift slipping or becoming misplaced during the initial nailing is minimized. This is due to the central plane portion of substantial area coming into immediate contact with the shoe heel when the lift is laid thereon. After the first fastening nails have been driven through the lift, nails may be driven through the marginal portion of the lift to deform that portion and bring th upperside and rear edges of the lift into pressing contact which are at all times disposedperpendicularly to the shoe heel, may be driven simultaneously, as by an automatic nailing machine. I

It will be understood that the illustrative embodiment of the invention above described may be variously modified within the scope of the subjoined claims.

If desired, the nails,

I claim as my invention:

1. A deformable resilient heel lift of uniform thickness throughout, the upper surface of said lift having a central fiat portion of a width equal to approximately one-third of the width of the lift and of substantial area disposed in a plane passing through the outer edges of the lift and a groove of uniform width throughout substantially its entire length; terminating at the breast edge of the lift and extending around said flat portion; the tread surface of the lift having a corresponding flat portion and a ridge of uniform width throughout substantially its entire length terminating at the breast edge and extending around said flat portion; the said lift being provided with nail holes positioned in said central flat portion and along the median line of said ridge and groove and disposed at right angles to the plane of said flat portion, whereby the lift when attached to a shoe, heel may be deformed to produce a substantially uniform pressing contact from one breast corner along the side and rear edges of the heel to the other breast corner.

2. A deformable resilient heel lift having its upper surface formed with a central flat portion of substantial area and separated from the side and rear edges of the lift by a groove of substantially uniform width ending at the breast edge of the lift, and having its tread surface formed with a corresponding fiat portion separated from the side and rear edges of the lift by a ridge, and nail holes disposed in. said central plane portion and said ridge, the groove and ridge forming a deformed portion of substantially uniform width around the outer edge of the lift.

3. A heel lift of resilient material of sub stantially uniform thickness throughout and having an elongated central flat portion of a width equal to approximately one-third of the width of the lift upon its upper surface with a surrounding groove of substantially uniform width, one edge of said flat portion and the ends of said groove terminating flush with the breast edge of the lift, and fastening means passing through the lift along substantially the center line of said groove and adapted to deform the grooved periphery of the lift to hold the edges of the lift firmly against a heel.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification'this third day'of February 1920.

LAURENCE M. OAKLEY. 

